I contacted the United States Postal Service's main website, and this was the response I got:
"Dear LINSEY KNERL,
Thank you for contacting us about the Forever stamp.
The Forever Stamp will be valid for the first-ounce First-Class Mail® letter postage regardless of the actual price on the date of use. The primary purpose of the stamp is to smooth the transition to new stamp prices when prices change. The Forever Stamp will be available for purchase at the First-Class Mail 1-ounce letter price until the date of a subsequent price change. At that point, it would be sold at the new First-Class Mail 1-ounce letter price.
.
If I can be of assistance to you in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for choosing the United States Postal Service®.
Hi! I'm doing volunteer work for a group that works with people in poverty . This would be great to help teach them new skills. Any skill you learn nowadays can help youi in the job market. Thanks for the giveaway. Lisa
@Linsey: You're welcome, and thanx for the continued encouragement! This will take more in-the-dirt investigation.
@Sarah: I'd love to hear from Apple too. I <3 the Apple products they own, but wish their lifestyle-friendliness would extend to dialog with customers.
@Glenn: Ah! Well, that's where it gets interesting: iTunes has a lot of rare, older releases which can't be found through P2P. There just isn't a demand to share 'em. Sure, it's easy to find the latest Kanye West or Britney Spears, but in various cases it's less trouble to get a high-quality release of a hard-to-find, eclectic release where you know it's already located... on iTunes.
@Adam: Yes. I've gotten many eerie/unusual emails over the years, so I've somewhat gotten used to them.
@Bill M: Wherever there's money to be made. It sounds like a movie could be made out of this.
@Craig: There is still the cost of "time", and someone must weigh whether it's worth their time to get involved in illegal activities... or do the jail time afterward. Earlier in life I visited Pantip Plaza in Thailand; I don't know how it is now, but at the time, it was pirate bootleg heaven, with walls and stalls crammed with MP3-laden CDs (DVDs hadn't yet become popular).
@Cathy: I think the next step involves locating someone who can articulate what's going on. It's difficult because as I illustrated, those who *are* making a profit illegally are unlikely to come forward. Thank-you!
That is a great post, I emailed it to my girlfriend and asked her, when can we leave? She said she had to go to Geelong (near Melbourne) today for work, but right after that was fine :-)
It is a very attractive option, and we could do it. We have a low-ish mortgage, no other debt, and we take a frugal approach to life.
Would like to hear about the downside of traveling like this though. Dodgy accommodation, things you miss from home, tough jobs you've had to do, items getting stolen or damaged. I guess I will have to check out your personal web site...
I work at an apartment complex cleaning vacated apartments & helping with maintenance. Every time I clean a refrigerator, as a little nicety, I put a box of BS in the fridge & one in the freezer. They are usually still in there when the folks move out. I take them home & use them for cleaning. After absorbing odors, it's still good for this.
As for my toilet, after getting the hard water ring out with pumice stone, I keep it from coming back by doing what Flylady.net recommends. Wash out your toilet daily. It takes less than a minute. It doesn't matter what kind of soap you use (I haven't bought cleanser in a very long time) & it takes very little. Of course, I add a little baking soda, also. Right now I'm using some baby shampoo that someone left at moveout. It's not PH balanced for hair, but eyes so it won't sting, so it's not good to use on adult hair anyway.
I put the big, long term stuff as line items in my budget with a general number to go for. I usually extrapolate out a rough budget for each month until I reach all the goals in my budget. Currently it goes out about 5 years until I can buy a house, with various other goals along the way. As time goes on I'll revise things as needed and add new goals.
My problem is the mid level stuff. I have a zero based budget. So I allocate all my immediate needs and creature comforts, and then want to put the rest towards the big important stuff. To get the mid level stuff (like a new dresser, a vacation, having some work done on my piano, etc.) I'd have to give up short term comfort or put off my long term dreams. I have a really hard time doing either one. Right now I'm trying to put aside a bit each month for these types of things, we'll see how that goes.
To me, visual quality is still of top importance when watching a show. While we're surely moving toward that direction, I don't think online videos can quite replace traditional TV just yet.
I've never heard of this before...though I do kind of live under a rock :)
I wonder if any of it could be related to gray market. If they buy the cards abroad, maybe they pay less for them and make a profit in the US. I would feel better about being involved in the gray market than identity theft.
It's entirely possible to travel full-time; the major step is actually committing to doing it.
I've been traveling in Europe since May 2007, basically on an extended rock climbing trip, and just came home for the holidays. Then I'll be returning in March 2009 to continue until... who knows?
Our kind of open-ended trip required some saving in advance, so it's important to start thinking of saving now for a trip perhaps 1-3 years down the line. It's really key to create some kind of budget and factor in an additional 25% for unexpected things. Seriously, 25% is an adequate number. When the exchange rate (dollar to Euro) rose last year ($1.65 was memorable), my husband and I were able to stay afloat. We got the cheapest travel insurance, bought a car, lived in the countryside (cheaper than in the city), and bought everything at the discount grocery stores. And camped, when traveling to climbing destinations. We took lots of photos instead of souvenirs, and spent the money we saved on one nice dinner a month. I did a bit of freelance through the internet. We tracked our expenses, and so far we're doing okay.
I think people will be less likely to travel during this financial crisis, so it's a good time to save for the trip!
I am pretty sure that they do not charge a $3.00 monthly fee. Please correct me if I am wrong.
I know that if you sign up online, the regular checking account maintenance fee is waived for the life of the account with no minimum balance or direct deposit requirement.
Please inform if I am mistaken because I do not want to lose money when I think I am earning money.
Best way to buy these is from ebay with a %-discount from paypal or live.com. It's ridiculous that the post office keeps on issuing inconvenient obsolescent stamps. It's not that Forever stamps are such a deal, but that people collect denominations of stamps and are less likely to use outdated ones. Nothing like selling people little sticky squares of paper to make 99.99% profit.
all u guys need to get a life, like seriously ive been searching the web for all this economic crap for my economics class and i still havent found anything. seriously, the most disturbing part is that i have to read all ur guy's dumb comments and all i got to say is get a life ur pissing me off.
Must have been a pain and surprise to find out like that. No surprise that this type of activity goes on though. People steal items all the time then sell online for less, cause essentially it is costing them nothing, 100% profit on their part. Happens with all items in the black market.
Regardless of a rate hike, postage never loses it's value. The only stamp that would be worth a penny, is the one-cent stamp. I collected stamps for years, and I often used the undesireables for postage. You can always use a genuine stamp that has not been cancelled, and it is worth its face value. As far as the Forever stamp, it would have to be honored as first class postage. It is my understanding that the forever stamp is intended to be used on first-class letters, and may not be able to be used in conjunction with other stamps to mail, for example, a letter requiring 83 cents due to unusual weight or thickness. A rate hike, however, couldn't devalue a previously purchased stamp to below its original value.
Nice article Sarah. We once had a speaker come to our workplace to talk about resiliency in the face of change, and one of the points she made that really helped me was similar to yours. She said that studies show that change tends to be cyclical. Although we tend to think of successful change as linear, "progress" from one place to another, it more often tends to loop back upon itself. But if you don't give up during that backward loop, if you keep trying, you tend to progress a bit further along the continuum and move forward, before you take yet another little backward loop again. As long as you don't give up, your overall momentum continues to be forward. That picture in my head makes a difference. If you perceive that backwards movement as a temporary "roll" it's easier to bounce back and keep moving in the right direction rather than get discouraged and quit.
I checked to USP site and if you look under the rate changes for package rates for Jan. 2009 there is a footnote about rates going up for letters in May of this year. Although they really do not give out much info about the Forever stamp. Makes you wonder why they dont have updates on them. I have some still, but will use them up. Again, it was what my local news reported. I will try to catch my postal person tomorrow here at work and ask her what she knows.
The stamp itself will be good but only for a penny value. They will no longer be making this stamp when the new rate kicks in. For some reason I am thinking they said May of this year.
I rarely use stamps - maybe two a month but I hate to buy one of anything. I would always buy a book and as soon I did I would hear on the news that the price of stamps were going up. It was a no brainer for me to purchase the stamp that would "always" be good once they started selling them. I bought two books and still have half of one left through at least one price change.
I fail to see how forever stamps "wouldn't be any good" just because postage goes up. They are still good for first-class rates. They are not null and void. The price hike that goes into effect on Jan. 18th is for mailing services (like flat rate Priority Mailers). They would not affect any forever stamps already purchased.
And to those of you who argue the inflationary reason for not investing in them, I understand. I'm talking about buying a book of 20 over buying the fancy regular first-class stamps that won't increase in value.
Can anyone give me a valid reason why you shouldn't buy forevers stamps in lieu of your ordinary stamps for your regular needs? (Not as an investment.) I can't find any reason not too.
I just caught on our local morning news the other day that the Forever stamp will not be any good come 2009. I didnt catch the exact date, but rates are going up a penny again this year.
I contacted the United States Postal Service's main website, and this was the response I got:
"Dear LINSEY KNERL,
Thank you for contacting us about the Forever stamp.
The Forever Stamp will be valid for the first-ounce First-Class Mail® letter postage regardless of the actual price on the date of use. The primary purpose of the stamp is to smooth the transition to new stamp prices when prices change. The Forever Stamp will be available for purchase at the First-Class Mail 1-ounce letter price until the date of a subsequent price change. At that point, it would be sold at the new First-Class Mail 1-ounce letter price.
.
If I can be of assistance to you in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Thank you for choosing the United States Postal Service®.
Regards,
Jenifer K"
I hope this helps!
Linsey Knerl
Hi! I'm doing volunteer work for a group that works with people in poverty . This would be great to help teach them new skills. Any skill you learn nowadays can help youi in the job market. Thanks for the giveaway. Lisa
@Linsey: You're welcome, and thanx for the continued encouragement! This will take more in-the-dirt investigation.
@Sarah: I'd love to hear from Apple too. I <3 the Apple products they own, but wish their lifestyle-friendliness would extend to dialog with customers.
@Glenn: Ah! Well, that's where it gets interesting: iTunes has a lot of rare, older releases which can't be found through P2P. There just isn't a demand to share 'em. Sure, it's easy to find the latest Kanye West or Britney Spears, but in various cases it's less trouble to get a high-quality release of a hard-to-find, eclectic release where you know it's already located... on iTunes.
@Adam: Yes. I've gotten many eerie/unusual emails over the years, so I've somewhat gotten used to them.
@Bill M: Wherever there's money to be made. It sounds like a movie could be made out of this.
@Craig: There is still the cost of "time", and someone must weigh whether it's worth their time to get involved in illegal activities... or do the jail time afterward. Earlier in life I visited Pantip Plaza in Thailand; I don't know how it is now, but at the time, it was pirate bootleg heaven, with walls and stalls crammed with MP3-laden CDs (DVDs hadn't yet become popular).
@Cathy: I think the next step involves locating someone who can articulate what's going on. It's difficult because as I illustrated, those who *are* making a profit illegally are unlikely to come forward. Thank-you!
That is a great post, I emailed it to my girlfriend and asked her, when can we leave? She said she had to go to Geelong (near Melbourne) today for work, but right after that was fine :-)
It is a very attractive option, and we could do it. We have a low-ish mortgage, no other debt, and we take a frugal approach to life.
Would like to hear about the downside of traveling like this though. Dodgy accommodation, things you miss from home, tough jobs you've had to do, items getting stolen or damaged. I guess I will have to check out your personal web site...
I work at an apartment complex cleaning vacated apartments & helping with maintenance. Every time I clean a refrigerator, as a little nicety, I put a box of BS in the fridge & one in the freezer. They are usually still in there when the folks move out. I take them home & use them for cleaning. After absorbing odors, it's still good for this.
As for my toilet, after getting the hard water ring out with pumice stone, I keep it from coming back by doing what Flylady.net recommends. Wash out your toilet daily. It takes less than a minute. It doesn't matter what kind of soap you use (I haven't bought cleanser in a very long time) & it takes very little. Of course, I add a little baking soda, also. Right now I'm using some baby shampoo that someone left at moveout. It's not PH balanced for hair, but eyes so it won't sting, so it's not good to use on adult hair anyway.
I put the big, long term stuff as line items in my budget with a general number to go for. I usually extrapolate out a rough budget for each month until I reach all the goals in my budget. Currently it goes out about 5 years until I can buy a house, with various other goals along the way. As time goes on I'll revise things as needed and add new goals.
My problem is the mid level stuff. I have a zero based budget. So I allocate all my immediate needs and creature comforts, and then want to put the rest towards the big important stuff. To get the mid level stuff (like a new dresser, a vacation, having some work done on my piano, etc.) I'd have to give up short term comfort or put off my long term dreams. I have a really hard time doing either one. Right now I'm trying to put aside a bit each month for these types of things, we'll see how that goes.
I have sold my hair about 3 different times now and I think it is easy money. any can do it, just take care of it.
HOW TO PAYOFF 15 IN 8 YEARS.
To me, visual quality is still of top importance when watching a show. While we're surely moving toward that direction, I don't think online videos can quite replace traditional TV just yet.
I've never heard of this before...though I do kind of live under a rock :)
I wonder if any of it could be related to gray market. If they buy the cards abroad, maybe they pay less for them and make a profit in the US. I would feel better about being involved in the gray market than identity theft.
I just found your blog :) Keep up the good work!
It's entirely possible to travel full-time; the major step is actually committing to doing it.
I've been traveling in Europe since May 2007, basically on an extended rock climbing trip, and just came home for the holidays. Then I'll be returning in March 2009 to continue until... who knows?
Our kind of open-ended trip required some saving in advance, so it's important to start thinking of saving now for a trip perhaps 1-3 years down the line. It's really key to create some kind of budget and factor in an additional 25% for unexpected things. Seriously, 25% is an adequate number. When the exchange rate (dollar to Euro) rose last year ($1.65 was memorable), my husband and I were able to stay afloat. We got the cheapest travel insurance, bought a car, lived in the countryside (cheaper than in the city), and bought everything at the discount grocery stores. And camped, when traveling to climbing destinations. We took lots of photos instead of souvenirs, and spent the money we saved on one nice dinner a month. I did a bit of freelance through the internet. We tracked our expenses, and so far we're doing okay.
I think people will be less likely to travel during this financial crisis, so it's a good time to save for the trip!
Daniel,
I am pretty sure that they do not charge a $3.00 monthly fee. Please correct me if I am wrong.
I know that if you sign up online, the regular checking account maintenance fee is waived for the life of the account with no minimum balance or direct deposit requirement.
Please inform if I am mistaken because I do not want to lose money when I think I am earning money.
Thank you
Doug
Best way to buy these is from ebay with a %-discount from paypal or live.com. It's ridiculous that the post office keeps on issuing inconvenient obsolescent stamps. It's not that Forever stamps are such a deal, but that people collect denominations of stamps and are less likely to use outdated ones. Nothing like selling people little sticky squares of paper to make 99.99% profit.
all u guys need to get a life, like seriously ive been searching the web for all this economic crap for my economics class and i still havent found anything. seriously, the most disturbing part is that i have to read all ur guy's dumb comments and all i got to say is get a life ur pissing me off.
Must have been a pain and surprise to find out like that. No surprise that this type of activity goes on though. People steal items all the time then sell online for less, cause essentially it is costing them nothing, 100% profit on their part. Happens with all items in the black market.
Regardless of a rate hike, postage never loses it's value. The only stamp that would be worth a penny, is the one-cent stamp. I collected stamps for years, and I often used the undesireables for postage. You can always use a genuine stamp that has not been cancelled, and it is worth its face value. As far as the Forever stamp, it would have to be honored as first class postage. It is my understanding that the forever stamp is intended to be used on first-class letters, and may not be able to be used in conjunction with other stamps to mail, for example, a letter requiring 83 cents due to unusual weight or thickness. A rate hike, however, couldn't devalue a previously purchased stamp to below its original value.
Linsey Knerl
Nice article Sarah. We once had a speaker come to our workplace to talk about resiliency in the face of change, and one of the points she made that really helped me was similar to yours. She said that studies show that change tends to be cyclical. Although we tend to think of successful change as linear, "progress" from one place to another, it more often tends to loop back upon itself. But if you don't give up during that backward loop, if you keep trying, you tend to progress a bit further along the continuum and move forward, before you take yet another little backward loop again. As long as you don't give up, your overall momentum continues to be forward. That picture in my head makes a difference. If you perceive that backwards movement as a temporary "roll" it's easier to bounce back and keep moving in the right direction rather than get discouraged and quit.
Maybe the pirates left the CD scene and are now on the Digital scene. Its either 1.) Money Laundering/Drug Money 2.) Stolen CC
I checked to USP site and if you look under the rate changes for package rates for Jan. 2009 there is a footnote about rates going up for letters in May of this year. Although they really do not give out much info about the Forever stamp. Makes you wonder why they dont have updates on them. I have some still, but will use them up. Again, it was what my local news reported. I will try to catch my postal person tomorrow here at work and ask her what she knows.
Definitely some great tips for getting a grip after the craziness of the holidays. Thanks.
The stamp itself will be good but only for a penny value. They will no longer be making this stamp when the new rate kicks in. For some reason I am thinking they said May of this year.
I rarely use stamps - maybe two a month but I hate to buy one of anything. I would always buy a book and as soon I did I would hear on the news that the price of stamps were going up. It was a no brainer for me to purchase the stamp that would "always" be good once they started selling them. I bought two books and still have half of one left through at least one price change.
I fail to see how forever stamps "wouldn't be any good" just because postage goes up. They are still good for first-class rates. They are not null and void. The price hike that goes into effect on Jan. 18th is for mailing services (like flat rate Priority Mailers). They would not affect any forever stamps already purchased.
And to those of you who argue the inflationary reason for not investing in them, I understand. I'm talking about buying a book of 20 over buying the fancy regular first-class stamps that won't increase in value.
Can anyone give me a valid reason why you shouldn't buy forevers stamps in lieu of your ordinary stamps for your regular needs? (Not as an investment.) I can't find any reason not too.
Linsey Knerl
I just caught on our local morning news the other day that the Forever stamp will not be any good come 2009. I didnt catch the exact date, but rates are going up a penny again this year.
"..postage hikes will never surpass inflation—and the forever stamp will never become a good investment."
http://consumerist.com/consumer/usps/forever-stamps-are-a-scam-263249.php